The only thing that would make a Scouser head for the City Ground (BCC)

retired_mika318 · 02-06-2005, 10:34 PM

New page

Sorry Terk

retired_bbcarr · 02-06-2005, 10:46 PM

was gonna wait until tomorrow to post the rest of this season, but i'll do it now instead

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The Final Six Games

With Derby leading their only realistic challengers Manchester United by a mere one point, they knew that the meeting between the two on 25th April would probably resolve the matter one way or another. But first, Derby had to get through home games against Southampton and Bolton. The south coast side were one that Rob had enjoyed a lot of success over, but James Beattie was determined to make it difficult this time. The England striker put Southampton in front in the third minute before Darren Fletcher managed to plunder an equaliser, but Beattie was on hand at the start of the second half to restore his side's lead. And it wasn't until the 83rd minute that Derby were able to sneak a second leveller through Claudio Pizzaro, and the advantage of their game in hand hadn't been used to the full.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1. Derby Played 33: Points 782. Man Utd Played 33: Points 76 </pre>

With Deby plasying Bolton at home on the Saturday, they had the chance to (temporarily at least) open up the gap at the top to five points as Man Utd didn't play Chelsea until the Monday night. But Bolton were in no mood to be generous. They came with a tight set up, playing five across the centre of midfield and were determined not to let Derby break them down and score the goal(s) they needed. Whilst the visitors rarely offered much in an attacking manner, they were putting in a defensive display which any side would have been proud of. It was becoming more and more obvious that the game would be decided by a single goal. If Derby got it, then there was little chance of Bolton being able to get one back, but if Bolton snuck one, then Derby would have to make their way past 11 defenders if they were to equalise. Thankfully for Rob, then, it was his Derby side who got the goal, Darren Fletcher flighting a free kick into the top corner of the net. On the Monday night, he gathered his players at the stadium to watch the Chelsea-Man Utd game, and there seemed hope when the Londoners took the lead, but a four goal second half from United ensured that the gap remained at just two points going into the clash of the titans.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1. Derby Played 34: Points 812. Man Utd Played 34: Points 79 </pre>

And so it was to the crunch match against Manchester United at Pride Park. A win would put Derby five points clear with only nine to play for, and in the eyes of many, all but clinch them the title. However, defeat would leave them a point behind, and with United so experienced in such situations, it would be unlikely that Derby would be able to overturn the defecit. Ruud van Nistelrooy got the game off to the perfect start for United. His third minute goal was almost vomit-inducing for the large Derby crowd, but they were calmed just six minutes later when Scott Parker headed home Fletcher's corner to level the scores. And Derby were 2-1 up in the twentieth minute when Pizzaro struck a low shot under Tim Howard from the edge of the penalty area, sending those in the stands wild. But by half time, the scores were tied once more as Van Nistelrooy netted from the penalty spot after Michael Dawson had hauled down young Englishman Bradley Borg in the box. A tactical reshuffle from Rob at half time saw the side move to a 4-5-1 formation, with McGeady and Pizzaro attacking in from wide positions. And it paid off. Parker put them in the lead on fifty minutes with a well struck free kick before Richard Simpson, on as a substitute for Hersi, rifled in a twenty yard effort. And the points, game and possibly title were sealed two minutes from time when Fletcher poked in a rebound after Howard had parried Pizzaro's shot.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1. Derby Played 35: Points 842. Man Utd Played 35: Points 79 </pre>

retired_amyslack · 02-06-2005, 11:03 PM

Well done that man - no stopping you now :thup:

retired_bbcarr · 02-06-2005, 11:13 PM

cheers, timbo. looks like your advice on the defenders worked

oh, and page four \o/ :eek:

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Derby's visit to Birmingham on the 2nd May was followed a day later by Man Utd's trip to Blackburn. So, once again, Derby had the chance to open up a bigger gap, this time a huge eight points, which would mean that Utd would have to win every one of their remaining three games, hopeing that Derby slipped up twice. Things started brightly at St Andrews, and Rob's men were two up inside the first fifteen minutes. Youssouf Hersi hammered in the first from six yards after good work from Ljungberg, and then Gareth Barry, restored to a midifeld role for the day, battered a left foot shot from twenty five yards which found its way to the top corner of the net. Their progress towards the win and the three points was slowed when Wayne Porter grabbed one back for Birmingham on the hour mark, but good defending, especially from Michael Dawson, kept the one goal lead in tact and Derby on course.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1. Derby Played 36: Points 872. Man Utd Played 35: Points 79 </pre>

Man Utd's trip to Blackburn, shown live on Sky Sports, was one that the Red Devils had to win if they were to stay in with a chance of successfully defending their title. A clearly onside goal from Zoltan Gera was disallowed in the 35th minute, giving United a reprieve, but it was not one they used as they struggled to take any control on the match or carve out any real openings. They did have a penalty shout denied, but then it was Wayne Rooney and he was up to his usual swan diving antics, so there was no real injustice. When the final whistle blew and neither team had scored, Rob had completed the next stage of his dream. Just like Cloughie he had brought the league title to Derby. It had happened far quicker than he had expected, but he wasn't going to complain about that.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1. Derby Played 36: Points 872. Man Utd Played 36: Points 80 </pre>

The season was rounded off with a 2-1 home win over Chelsea thanks to goals from McGeady and Ashton. And after the game, the league trophy was paraded around the stadium, having been lifted before kick-off by club captain Stephen O'Connor. The final game saw Arsenal travel to Pride Park, and though Parker put Derby in front, the Highbury club spoilt the party a little by forcing a draw with a goal from Robin van Persie. Rob was delighted that he hadn't needed results out of the final two games, as they would have been infinitely more difficult if they had. With the league trophy added to his European final appearence, he was no on the look out for a new job. Hopefully, either Brighton or Leeds would part ways with their manager sooner rather than later.

retired_bbcarr · 02-06-2005, 11:15 PM

thanks, bob your challenge is, once again, eating up far too much of my time.

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<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * English Premier Division - Sunday 17th May 2009********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2008/9 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st C DERBY 38 13 4 2 42 17 16 0 3 54 23 91 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Man Utd 38 14 4 1 34 9 11 5 3 33 18 84 3rd Chelsea 38 12 4 3 27 6 11 4 4 27 13 77 4th Arsenal 38 7 9 3 18 13 11 6 2 22 9 69 5th Liverpool 38 11 3 5 24 13 7 7 5 24 21 64 6th Southampton 38 12 2 5 34 22 5 10 4 14 14 63 7th Fulham 38 13 1 5 28 15 6 4 9 18 26 62 8th Tottenham 38 10 4 5 30 17 7 4 8 18 27 59 9th Newcastle 38 9 6 4 30 17 7 4 8 20 22 58 10th Blackburn 38 10 4 5 29 21 6 5 8 25 37 57 11th Aston Villa 38 10 4 5 31 12 5 7 7 18 19 56 12th Man City 38 12 5 2 27 12 3 6 10 11 19 56 13th Charlton 38 5 8 6 16 18 5 6 8 16 22 44 14th W.B.A. 38 8 4 7 19 22 4 4 11 11 27 44 15th Norwich 38 7 7 5 19 21 4 2 13 16 32 42 16th Bolton 38 9 4 6 27 20 2 3 14 9 37 40 17th Birmingham 38 3 3 13 19 31 3 5 11 15 32 26 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------18th R Sheff Utd 38 4 3 12 13 31 2 2 15 9 27 23 19th R Reading 38 3 7 9 18 25 0 3 16 5 36 19 20th R Everton 38 3 3 13 10 35 1 2 16 12 34 17 </pre>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * Derby County - Sunday 17th May 2009********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2008/9 Senior Club Stats============================================= ================================================== =No Name Apps Gls Con Pens Asts Yel Red MoM Av R--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------26 Abbott, Mike 2 (3) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.00 24 Ashton, Dean 37 (1) 30 0 7 (7) 13 0 0 13 8.55 - Banks, Stuart - - - - - - - - ---- 4 Barry, Gareth 40 2 0 0 7 5 1 1 7.33 44 Burke, Jon - - - - - - - - ---- 22 Dawson, Michael 30 1 0 0 4 5 1 0 7.30 12 Di Cesare, Valerio 36 2 0 0 0 6 1 0 7.33 - Evans, Owen - - - - - - - - ---- 20 Ferdinand, Anton 11 (3) 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 7.07 14 Ferrell, Andy 0 (3) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.00 45 Fleming, Terry 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 7 Fletcher, Darren 35 (1) 7 0 0 5 3 0 1 7.31 11 Foy, Robbie 8 3 0 0 1 1 0 0 7.13 43 Gallacher, Paul 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Gardiner, Tony - - - - - - - - ---- 3 Gardner, Ricardo 5 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 7.20 50 Hall, Iain 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.00 27 Hersi, Youssouf 37 8 0 0 8 2 0 3 7.68 - Hudson, Tim - - - - - - - - ---- 21 Hughes, Stephen 6 (1) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 7.00 48 Hunter, Robert 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.00 49 Jackson, Simon - - - - - - - - ---- 23 Johnson, Glen 34 1 0 0 5 5 0 0 7.44 13 Lewis, Joe 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 7.00 9 Ljungberg, Fredrik 27 (3) 9 0 0 6 1 0 0 7.27 10 Lupoli, Arturo 9 (6) 4 0 0 4 0 0 1 7.40 - Maddison, James - - - - - - - - ---- 2 Mario 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 8 McGeady, Aidan 19 (7) 3 0 0 9 2 0 1 7.23 5 Medjani, Carl 6 (3) 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6.89 42 Mills, Nathan - - - - - - - - ---- 25 Mista 13 (11) 7 0 0 0 0 0 3 7.58 19 Naysmith, Gary 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 1 O'Connor, Stephen 42 0 45 0 0 0 0 1 7.29 6 Parker, Scott 37 (1) 10 0 0 9 3 0 4 7.61 15 Pizarro, Claudio 32 (2) 21 0 0 11 1 0 8 8.32 28 Price, Howard 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6.00 - Scott, Ian - - - - - - - - ---- - Shepherd, Nicky - - - - - - - - ---- 16 Simpson, Richard 5 (11) 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 6.94 - Sullivan, Carl - - - - - - - - ---- - Todd, Patrick - - - - - - - - ---- 17 Walton, George 16 (3) 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 7.26 </pre>